


Lessons in Sobriety (and other things that matter)

by Existing_to_multiship



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And by dysfunctional I mean like in the vaguest sense, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, How will I find him, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Just to be safe, M/M, Season/Series 01 Spoilers, Sibling Bonding, Supportive Vanya Hargreeves, Where did Ben go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26678443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Existing_to_multiship/pseuds/Existing_to_multiship
Summary: After the almost-apocalypse, and Klaus getting clean, he finds that maybe there is more to look forward to than getting high.(Or the five moments in which Klaus felt like being sober was a good thing, plus the one time he needed some reassurance)
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz (mentioned)
Kudos: 47





	Lessons in Sobriety (and other things that matter)

**Author's Note:**

> Join the Vanya and Klaus hand holding initiative

1\. 

  
If Klaus is honest, a designated night to have a “family dinner” seems pointless. 

Firstly, some of them already live in the house (See: Diego, Luther and Five). Secondly, everyone else, with the exception of Allison, lives close enough to walk to their childhood home, with Klaus (alongside Vanya) now proudly in that category. Not because he’s a street junkie, who happens to be in the area, but because he has an _apartment_. 

Because of this arrangement, the odds there will be another person eating at the house when Klaus decides to visit is ridiculously high. But, he supposes, it is nice to have one day for a formal dinner, instead of hoping to run into another person. 

This is the third family dinner they’ve had, but markedly, it’s the first one Klaus has been sober for, and not half way there or his old version of sober where he’d say he was sober, but really he hadn’t done any drugs, or drunk any alcohol in like a day-

That’s neither here nor there. 

Dinner is still an awkward affair when it’s this new. They all dance around each other and their interpersonal issues. After Five’s return, the discovery of Vanya’s powers, and the apocalypse that didn’t happen, none of them felt like bringing up any past drama, but it’s hard when that’s all they had since they were in their late teens. 

They’ve all suffered as of late, Klaus kicked a drug habit he’s had since he turned fifteen. _Dave_. The ten months he fought in Vietnam….. 

It’s quite a scenario. But it’s a scenario they all find themselves in, and there’s comfort in the knowledge that Klaus isn’t alone for the first time in a decade. 

Klaus and Vanya’s apartments are close enough to each other that they decide to make the walk back to their childhood home together. With the inclusion of Vanya’s tardiness. 

“Sorry, sorry,” she apologises “I just lost track of time,” which has happened almost every time they’ve hung out as of late. Her promotion to first chair, discovery of her powers, the almost-but-not-quite end of the world, and subsequently Vanya quitting her orchestra, had given her confidence in all areas of her life. Not that Klaus has a reference for her behaviour. 

“All good sis,” he responds as Vanya finally locks her door, and they’re off down the city streets, 

The house is weirdly tucked in. Exposed, yet, at the same time, hidden from view. When he was younger he thought it stuck out, and drew the public’s eye. Klaus had felt crappy that _he_ lived there, that _he_ had to do the walk of shame back into it after a mission. In reality it’s a small collection of homes their father bought and connected into one shared house. It fails to make him feel exposed now as he stands at the door with his sister. 

Diego greets them, dressed, for once in his life, in an outfit that doesn’t even resemble that leather suit he likes to run around in as a vigilante. Instead he’s dressed in a plain, light blue shirt, and black jeans. 

“Diego, my favorite younger brother!” Klaus sees the objection on Diego’s lips, but instead his brother shakes his head, and drops whatever comment he'd thought of. Diego steps aside to allow Vanya and Klaus in. 

Everyone else is already there, Allison and Luther set the table, while Five observes them skeptically. They exchange 'hello’s' and 'how are you’s' while mum thanks Luther and Allison for their help, before they all sit, the mood light. 

Dinner is splendid as always. Mum’s a robot, and has always cooked objectively fantastic food, so no surprise. Vanya pipes up with mention of her job interview, which apparently went well, while Five announces that university is boring and easy, and they all laugh at Five’s arrogance. 

It feels like a good night, the energy is good. The food is good. Klaus feels good. 

But it’s almost more. Like he physically feels good here. Surrounded by his brothers and sisters, eating food that isn’t from a drive or a few days past its sell-by date. It still tastes different, fuller, more rich and sweet and ugh- delicious. Perfect. 

Even when Diego and Luther start to bicker, and Five makes snide comments, they don’t spoil the mood, and he joins in on Allison’s and Vanya’s discussion about the nail polish Allison had lended Vanya. 

Klaus considers that it’s because he’s clean. 

He noticed that, when drunk or high, he didn’t even want to eat half the time. Food tasted bland, and his life had little worth. The whole world felt dull, which had been the aim. He’d ended up in the hospital because of it a couple of times. He hadn’t eaten for days, and he’d practically collapsed on the streets, or on one memorable occasion during sex. 

That guy had _not_ been happy. 

Klaus had not seen him again. 

But now he’s chosen to eat with his family and for one of the first time’s in a decade, Klaus is here because he wants to be. Not because Diego dragged him to a very half hearted intervention, or he needs money, and mum only assumes people have the best intentions so doesn’t stop him. 

He wants to be here with them. With the people who care about him, support him. That had been a nice surprise. To find the support of his family when he started to get clean. A gift that he hadn’t expected, but wouldn’t turn down. 

He has to put down his fork and knife for a second, and rub his forehead, overwhelmed, by the emotion that overcomes him. 

He looks up for a moment, and meets Vanya’s eyes. She quirks an eyebrow at him inquisitively, he shakes his head and continues to eat. Let’s himself relish in the satisfaction he’s finally able to gain from it, and enjoy the time he’s able to spend with his family.   
  


2\. 

He’s relapsed. 

It’s the first thought that occurs when Klaus wakes up. The warm, soft sheets of the hospital bed make him feel trapped. Claustrophobic. 

_Ashamed_. 

He can’t believe he _relapsed_. 

The pale blue walls feel like those of all the rehab centres he’s been to before. Where the staff members gazes would fill with pity when they stared down at him, because, oh, poor Klaus, back here _again_. He knew some of the less sensitive staff made bets on how long it’d take before he’d be back. 

The anticipation he feels is terrible. The anticipation that his _brothers_ _and_ _sisters_ will find out is worse. It sends a pang of dread through him. Why did he have to do this now, when he knows exactly what’ll happen, he’ll be abandoned again. When they’ve all begun to come together as a family after so long apart. 

Klaus sees it now, sees the disgust of their eyes. The sadness. The fucking _pity_. They’ll reject him, and that’ll be it. The people he needs in his life will have told him to fuck off. 

A sigh interrupts Klaus' train of thought and he looks over to see Allison as she gazes out the window to look upon the illuminated city, one hand on the plastic chair Vanya’s asleep in. Which can’t be comfortable with how hard the chairs are. 

“Allison?” Klaus asks, and no, come on, he didn’t want her to be the first one to turn those sorrowful eyes on him. To say _“this is all your fault, and we don’t need you”_ when he really, really needed her support. Klaus braces for the rejection. 

“Klaus!” Alison whips her head around and Vanya makes a strange, startled noise, before she opens her eyes slowly. Suddenly Allison’s arms are around him and he can’t help but hug her back while Vanya sits up. 

“Hey, what happened, did somebody die or something?” Klaus jokes, and Allison holds him tighter in an attempt to stop the slight shake in her hands. 

“You almost did,” Vanya says sullenly, her face coming into view above him, as she, too, pulls him into a hug. 

“Yeah, sorry about that,”

Vanya’s hands come to clasp Klaus's hand. The tick of the clock joins the bedside heart rate monitor in its unending quest to interrupt this emotional moment. 

“Where’s everyone else?” And Klaus doesn’t want to be disappointed if the answer is what he suspects it’ll be, but he can’t help himself. He has to know. 

“Uh, oh, um,” Allison flounders for a moment, and her and Vanya both laugh though it sounds a little hysterical. Filled with relief, surprisingly, as if this is the first time they've ever seen him lying in a hospital bed, weak and sick. His skin that weird grey colour it gets when he’s near death. 

It’s then Klaus realises that no one really knew about his last couple of overdoses. He had been alone, aside from Ben, and well…. Ben hasn’t exactly been around recently. 

“Diego is getting coffee, Lither’s with him, Five’s coming I think,” and if Vanya’s voice drops a little as she finally answers them, Allison doesn’t comment. Klaus too, bites his tongue at the mention of their eclectic brother, who might not show up simply because he doesn’t know Klaus is here, or because he doesn’t care. The thought depresses Klaus. 

The door opens “Hey! They didn’t have your caramel stuff Allis- oh Klaus, you’re awake,” Luther barrels into the room holding a cardboard tray of tall coffee’s as he speaks. 

“Yeah, good to see you up, man,” Diego adds as he slides into the room behind Luther. Two cups marked ‘K’ and ‘D’ in his hands. 

Diego slides the cup with a ‘K’ on it onto Klaus’ bedside table, and interrupts his brother's internal turmoil. He grabs it and takes a sip. Perfect. Earl grey tea, with milk, and a load of sugar. 

Luther begins to bicker and disagree with Diego over the merits of, what Diego dubs “normal coffee” vs “whatever the hell you’ve gotten yourself, _Luther_ ” as they sit down opposite Allison and Vanya, who join in. 

Ahh, the joys of family. 

Without Ben it feels a little hollow. 

As Klaus finishes his tea, and the argument becomes about why Luther decided to get both honey and sugar in his coffee, Five jumps into the room as a small pop resounds through it. 

“Ah, good to see your all good and well Klaus,” he tuts at his brother's tone. 

“Good to see you too brother,” Five disappears for a second before he reappears with a plastic chair of his own, which he pulls up next to Diego. Breaking up the conversation as everyone greets him. 

“How’d you guys all find out?” Klaus mumbles before they all begin to argue again. Everyone quiets down for a moment, pointed looks exchanged between the five of them. 

“I was on my way home, from teaching and decided to stop by,” Vanya explains, voice soft, she looks down at her cup, eyes teary. Allison pulls her chair over, and puts an arm around her sister. 

“Oh Vanny,” Klaus frowns and reaches for her hand, which she takes. The absence of Ben weighs heavy at the moment. Normally Ben would verbally jab Klaus, tell him to get his life back on track, or lay a comforting ghost hand on their sister. The knowledge that he’s gone presses down on Klaus as he holds Vanya’s hand. 

For everyone else Ben’s been gone for sixteen years, but for him it’s only been a month. He’d barely noticed at first. Wrapped up in his other family members, and the move into his new apartment and getting clean. 

And if he hadn’t been as sober, as put together as he was recently, maybe he wouldn’t have noticed. Which sounds ridiculous once he thinks about it, because, come on. Ben’s been the only person to always be there for him. Of course he’d notice if he vanished. But, then again, maybe he wouldn’t have. 

Maybe none of his siblings would have noticed that Klaus overdosed. He could’ve died on the street, alone.

Hell, maybe Ben would still be here if he wasn’t clean. Maybe that was Ben’s final mission. To get Klaus sober. He did always bitterly complain that Klaus needed to improve his life, eat more protein, go for a run. That thought comforts him in a weird way, makes Klaus smile that his brother stuck around for him, but it in turns crushes his spirit, because Ben was miserable here. 

“He’s coming home to the mansion,” Diego announces, and Allison scoffs. Klaus tunes back in on the argument he had, till that point, ignored. 

“No way, he should be at home with Vanya!” Allison exclaims

“Mum can take care of Klaus, then he can go back to his own place,” Luther argues, for once in his life he agrees with Diego, which makes Klaus laugh. Vanya’s hand squeezes his, and he looks over to see her soft smile as Five proceeds to call the other three morons for not even considering that Klaus should stay in the hospital. 

Vanya’s eyes speak volumes, and it’s that moment he realises that she will help him. They’re all here for him, and Klaus knows he made the right decision to let her out of the box Luther had shoved her in out of fear. To let her have a chance at redemption the same way she’ll give him a chance at redemption. 

Klaus squeezes her hand.

3\. 

“I cannot believe he’s staying with her!” Klaus loudly proclaims as they get out of the car, glee evident in his voice. 

He, Five, Vanya and Diego are finally back in the city. After a half decent family dinner where they all got to meet little Claire, who, if Klaus must say, is the cutest kid he’s ever met. Bubbly and confident, and exactly like her mum. Claire also proudly wore her pigtails, while Allison made an attempt to pretend weren’t an affront to all that was good in the world. 

All in all, a pretty good night. 

Tonight’s also his mark for three months sober 

Again. 

It makes him feel sick to his stomach at the idea of it. That he’s had to do this twice because he relapsed, but he got here. No one‘s mentioned his sobriety. Hell, knowing his family, no one even noticed that it’s been three months since his relapse. It’s fine. They’d be insensitive about it anyway, and who needs that, right? 

Oh! Luther stayed with Allison. 

Their sister had glared at the thrilled, giggly remarks made by Vanya and Klaus. All in good nature really. But their shared excitement was uncontainable, because hello, _finally_. After years, and years and _years_ of sexual tension they had decided to take a tiny step in the right direction. 

“I’m surprised they've gone for it now. Just feels like an odd time to finally commit,” Vanya comments as she unlocks her apartment door and lets them in, Five and Diego have, of course, gotten into an argument over the intentions of Diego’s new girlfriend. 

“Will you stop acting like I’m your fucking teenage daughter, you’re _younger_ than me,”

“Again, your stupidity astounds me,” Five sneers as he begins to rifle through Vanya’s small kitchen on the search for coffee. “Where is it again?” 

“The cupboard closest to the window, top shelf,” their sister replies as she sits down on one of her old, worn down couches. Klaus takes the opposite one, and Diego joins him a second later. 

“Now _Diego_ , let me tell you something, I may look like I’m fourteen, but I am in fact fifty eight, and if you were smarter you’d understand,” 

Diego shakes his head as he throws his hands out, exasperated and Klaus protests

“Hey Diego’s not dumb!” 

“Thank you!” 

Vanya scoffs, before replying “When did you find out Klaus was gay again?” Diego’s lack of an answer and sour expression says it all. 

“Hey that doesn’t matter. I wanna know why you think Lila is such a bad choice,” 

“She’s unstable, I met her once an-“

“Exactly, You met her _once_.” Diego emphasises. 

Klaus tilts back his head, thinking “is she the one that arrested me for solicitation or was that your last girlfriend,” 

“Lila’s not a cop, and I didn’t date either women who arrested you for solicitation,” 

“I’ve been arrested for solicitation by five different police officers,” Diego gets this haunted betrayed look, hoping that was a lie. Vanya frowns

“I thought it was only three,” 

Klaus is about to reply to that, thinking about the fact they hadn’t seen each other since he called her to bail him out of jail when he was twenty seven, when a cup of tea is slammed on the table by Five, who teleports across to sit beside Vanya a moment later. 

They all look at Five, confused. 

“It’s been three months right?” And wow. Five remembered. 

“Yes it has.” Klaus replies. He takes a sip of what has to be the best cup of tea ever made, and Klaus moans at the perfection, which results in an eye roll from Five, a telling smile from Vanya, and Diego moving away. 

“Hey, congrats,” Diego nods, approvingly, Vanya nods in agreement. 

“I didn’t want to say anything,” Vanya admits sheepishly before she exclaims “I’m really happy for you!”, and wow, surprise. Klaus is almost brought to tears by that sudden outburst from Vanya. He considers it a second and nods, brushing off the comments as they continue to discuss Diego’s questionable girlfriend. 

It warms him more than he’ll admit that they noticed.

4.

The air is cold as Vanya and Klaus begin their walk back to her apartment, shouting goodbye to their siblings as they exit the heavy doors of their family mansion. 

It’s about to rain, so he might stay at her place. Dinner had been nice. Five cooked for once, under supervision of Diego and Klaus, and holy crap, had that been a shit show. Vanya and Allision had been laughing all night, and Luther hadn’t been much better. 

Vanya’s gigglily and he’s convinced her and Allison snuck alcohol. Not a lot, none of them were particularly avid drinkers in the first place, and since Klaus officially resigned from drink and drugs they’ve been drinking even less so, but whenever Vanya and Allison get together for dinner, it gets wild. 

But Vanya doesn’t smell like booze, she’s a little loopy. Maybe it’s the endorphins

It’s nice to walk with her like this, Vanya leaning heavily on him as they walk. “I can’t believe you let Five cook!” Vanya’s voice is a little hysterical “he looked so confused,” and Klaus does have to laugh at the image of Five’s partly disgusted, partly embarrassed expression, as the sixteen year old clutched the knife like he was going to stab the vegetables (which he did). 

It’s nice to be Vanya’s brother again. Hell it’s nice to be a family for the first time. To have these little moments. Especially now that he’s sober. Hey, maybe the world nearly ending was a blessing in disguise. Diego got over himself (slightly), Luther had a quarter life crisis, Five came back the same full time jackass they tolerated (loved). Klaus got sober, and Vanya finally became a real member of the family.

He likes sobriety, because none of them would ever choose to hang with the drunk, high or stoned version of him. He likes to spend time with his family. Hell, they all do, despite the fact they get on each other’s nerves. Despite Five’s arrogance, Allison's occasional high horse, Diego’s terminal case of daddy issues, Luther’s tendency to be surprisingly normal and, at the same time, insanely maladjusted, and Vanya’s timid nature, when they all get together it’s a good time, weirdly. 

And he wants to be sober for it. He wants to stay sober for it all. 

“Yknow, I think my favorite part of the night was when Diego and Five started arguing and Diego didn’t stop him using baking soda to salt the water!” Vanya exclaims, and they have to stop their walk because they're laughing too hard. 

“Oh, you mean the best moment wasn’t Luther then trying to help, and the water spilling all over the floor?!” Klaus counters, and they both have to stop their walking to giggle and hug. 

Yeah Klaus wouldn’t miss any of this. 

5\.   
There’s a heavy knock at his door one morning and Vanya’s incessant voice ringing through the thin wood. 

“Open up! Klaus!” He groans, he’d only gotten what? Like five hours last night. And, wow, he can’t believe he’s complaining about that, when he used to get, on average, two hours total in a week. He slips on his dressing gown as he makes his way to his door 

“What’s up?” He groans. 

“Ok, so I, this morning, I went to work,” Vanya hastily explains, as she steps into Klaus’s apartment and places her purse on his kitchen table, “and, we had first chair auditions recently, remember,” Klaus nods, all that week Vanya had been a ball of nervous energy. 

“And this morning I get pulled aside, and I think, oh this is about the audition and they’re going to tell me I didn’t make it, and our director, James, told me ‘oh Vanya your such a great player and-“ Vanya is rubbing her hands through her hair, an ecstatic smile forms on her face as she continues to speak 

“Spit it out!” Klaus yells. He thinks he knows what’s on the other end of this rant. 

“I got first chair,” both Klaus and Vanya let out an excited squeal and he pulls her into a tight embrace she readily accept’s. It’s rare for her to get so worked up, so it’s definitely a chance to celebrate. As they pull back he asks Vanya, 

“When’s your first concert?” 

—————

It’s a testament to how far they’ve come as a family unit, that going out to see Vanya and support her at her concert isn’t an incredibly awkward affair. A year ago, he’d been standing in a room of strangers at dad’s funeral. Now it feels like the tenuous family ties have been mended. 

They all file into their seats, and Klaus ends up between Five and Diego, who both agree that classical music is a bore. And, yes, Klaus does find endless amusement in the fact Five and Diego have the same terrible love for dubstep. 

The lights dim, and Klaus can see Vanya clear as day in the front row, as she raises her violin. The music starts, and wow, 

It sounds incredible. 

The loud, dramatic opening is followed by a dip, the music changes, becomes soft, and slow. Vanya’s violin rings out through the audience, it echoes hauntingly through the other isles of the audience. It’s beautiful. 

Klaus’s eyes, in that moment, dart over to the rest of his family. Allison’s and Luther holding each other's hands, snuggled closer than necessary. Diego is far more enthralled with the music than he’d ever admit, while Five is thoroughly bored with the song. 

The sound is so amazing to Klaus, the music swells once again, and rises higher and higher. Klaus is taken back by the contrast between this loud, harmonious music and the deafening noises of day to day life he went through when he lived on the streets. 

All noises had screamed and demanded his attention when he was high, like the ghosts and phantoms that stalked him when he wasn’t. They only got better when he took even more drugs, and he always took more drugs to smother the noise and solve his problems. 

Now, as he listens to Vanya’s solo, sober, and warm, surrounded by his family, with his own apartment to go home to, he likes the sound. It feels good to not hate what he hears. Not feel the urge to drown out anything he doesn’t want to deal with. 

He likes being sober.

+1 

It’s kind of an awful day he’ll be honest. 

The first sign is when Klaus wakes up, he feels like crap. 

It’s been a year since he got back. He realises as he brushes his teeth, while he looks at himself in the mirror.

Dave’s been dead for a year. 

The thought crushes Klaus. He has to take a moment and removes his toothbrush, before he braces himself up on the sink. A thought crosses his mind. He could always just- no. He can’t. 

Diego is the first down that morning, headphones in and notices Klaus is upset almost immediately. His brother looks him up and down as he starts to brew a pot of coffee. Klaus keeps eating his cornflakes. The nice kind that are super sweet, and they go through in like two days. The ones Klaus normally loves. 

Today it feels like a chore to simply open his mouth. He finds that he struggles to chew the mass, let alone swallow. 

“Want pancakes instead?” Diego asks as he pulls out a frying pan and digs around for the mix. Klaus manages to get out a yes. 

Diego always makes the nicest pancakes, warm and fluffy. Way better than his hard, cold cornflakes. There’s syrup too, for once. Diego rambles about the gym, some bad guys he brought in the other night, his girlfriend, how much he likes her, and how she kind of makes fun of him, but supports him, and really gets him as a person. All of which make Klaus smile a little at the adoration present in Diego’s voice. 

Kind of makes him think of Dave. 

They relocate to the living room at some point, plates and cutlery discarded in the sink alongside the frying pan. They’ll clean it later. Five comes in, thanks both of them for the coffee but says little else as he sits down. They’d gotten a new tv recently, after Klaus declared that they needed one if they were going to spend so much time there. Vanya had bought it, of course, because she was the only one with a stable job who was here regularly. 

“Room for one more?” Speaking of their sister, her soft, tired voice carries into the room from the entrance and Klaus can’t help but smile as Diego nods and makes room for her on the couch. Vanya undoes her hair and starts talking about practice as she sits down. 

“I went out to coffee with the first flute,” Diego nods, like he has any idea what that is, with. “You have no idea what that is do you?” Busted.

“He’s the leader of the flute section,” Klaus supplies for their brother. Diego grovels a moment, before Vanya starts talking about the guy. Klaus feels a little better. 

Lunch comes around surprisingly quickly. Five reappears to grab one of the sandwiches Diego makes before he zips off

“Fucking gremlin,” Diego laughs at his own remark, as he properly sets the plate down. “You gonna eat, Klaus?” That makes him pause and look up as Diego sets down a plate in front of his brother and Vanya. Klaus hums. Considers his brother for a moment. 

“If you insist,” he sighs loudly. Taking two, which makes Diego light up like the idiot that he is. Luther also comes down at some point, and Klaus finds himself given a firm, reassuring pat on the shoulder by his gigantic brother. It’s… a surprisingly subtle gesture. 

Klaus feels better, he has to admit. Even if he can still feel the pull for heroin under his skin, he’s feels emotionally more stable. When he eats this time is doesn’t feel like someone’s stuffed rocks in his mouth and told him to swallow. 

He feels way better. 

The show that’s on is some random, unfunny sitcom no one’s too invested in. They make fun of the show a little, but mostly it’s there as inoffensive entertainment. 

Five eventually meanders out of his bedroom again. Unbothered by the world. “Are you still watching daytime tv?” He asks as he falls down into one of the arm chairs that surrounds the tv. A thick textbook clutched in his small hands. “It’s like 4pm,” 

“And you’re still doing homework,” Vanya retorts 

Five, like the moody teenager he is at heart, huffs, and opens the thick book, and cracks the spine. 

“This isn’t for university,” the teen says, sticking his nose up with a solemn look on his face. “It’s been a year since Delores and me separated,” he sighs, and looks towards where his siblings have cuddled up on the couch together. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry five,” Vanya tells him, her tone a match for his sullen one. 

Five scoffs, and shakes his head as he replies. “Well, all good things come to an end,” Klaus resents the sentiment. 

“A lot of things came to an end last year,” Diego responds with a shrug, face falling. Vanya’s face too, grows cloudy. 

“Hey, why are you all such downers, we wouldn’t have a tv if the world hadn’t almost ended. Right?” Klaus asks rhetorically, and everyone chuckles at that, the mood lightened considerably.

“Allison and Luther probably would still be dancing around each other,” Diego suggests

“Luther would still be on the moon,” Five corrects 

“You wouldn’t even be here,” Vanya adds. 

And I wouldn’t be clean. Klaus thinks as the others continue to trade things that wouldn’t have happened, if not for the end of the world. Sure, there's a million other things that led to him get clean, like Dave, but really it did all come back to that apocalypse. 

Oh what Klaus would give to see Dave again. He’d be so, so proud of Klaus, that he’s kept his sobriety this long despite everything. Klaus had tried so many times in the past and this time, finally, he was able to do it for himself.

Diego and Five have begun to argue over something. 

“Hey,” Vanya puts her hand on his leg, which startled him. Klaus turns his attention away from his immature brothers to face her and her soft smile. “Feeling better?” 

He shrugs, but nods a little. 

“Y'know we wouldn’t be on speaking terms if the world hadn’t almost ended,” 

“I know,” she agrees “I’m really glad you’ve gotten clean,” Vanya’s heartfelt comment makes his heart swell and he nods 

Dave’s gone. It hurts, but it’s been a whole year and he’s survived. They’ve all survived. He lost the love of his life in Vietnam, stopped the end of the world, and got clean. He’d gained his family’s support back. 

He and Vanya’s hands clasp in silent support.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so maybe you noticed in it the tags but I wrote Ben out. How? I don’t know, and I only noticed after doing my major story edits. Ahhhhhhhh
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I had a really good time writing this, and thinking about the relationships Klaus has to his siblings. I leaned on Vanya and Klaus’s relationship a lot more. My headcanons that after everyone locked Vanya up, Klaus broke her out of their and Diego caught them and basically acted as liaison until Five showed up to get annoyed and sort things out. 
> 
> As always, feedbacks appreciated! Have a good day!


End file.
